Page 48 of King of Sin
The moment the words left her mouth, something changed in him.
Cassian went completely still.
The look in his eyes darkened instantly.
It was as though something sharp had suddenly pierced through his mind, stirring emotions he had spent years burying deep inside himself. For a moment, he simply stared at her, his jaw tightening as he fought to keep whatever was raging inside him under control.
Then suddenly, he turned away.
His hand shot out and gripped the wooden bedpost behind him. His fingers curled around it so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Juliet watched as his shoulders became rigid beneath his shirt, every muscle in his body tense as though he was holding himself back from doing something reckless.
Several long seconds passed before he slowly straightened.
Then he turned back around. His dark eyes locked onto hers, heavy and unblinking, as he stepped closer.
One hand came down onto the pillow beside Juliet’s head, sinking into the fabric as he braced himself over her. The mattress dipped under his weight, closing the small distance between them until there was almost no space left to breathe. His shadow fell over her completely.
Juliet’s breath hitched.
Cassian hovered above her, his face only inches away now. She could feel the warmth of him, the controlled tension in his body, the faint scent of him that made her heartbeat stutter in spite of herself.
His gaze didn’t waver.
“You can hate me for the rest of your life, Juliet,” he said quietly, his voice low and rough, like it was dragged out of him against his will. “But you’re never going back to Vincent.”
Juliet’s throat tightened. Her fingers curled slightly against the bedsheet without her noticing.
Cassian’s eyes dropped for the briefest second to her lips, then returned to her gaze, darker now, sharper. As if something inside him was straining to break free, barely held back by sheer control.
Juliet’s breath caught again.
The look in his eyes sent a chill racing through her—dangerous, consuming, almost desperate. As though every instinct in him was fighting the same battle: to pull her closer, claim her, keep her there.
It terrified her how much she could feel it without him even touching her fully yet.
She stayed frozen, shoulders stiff against the bed, as if movement alone might shatter whatever this was between them.
‘I don’t hate him. If I tell him… will he believe me?’
Her lips parted slightly.
Cassian saw it.
His gaze sharpened instantly.
Before she could form a single word, his hand moved.
It slid to the back of her neck. His fingers tightened just enough to anchor her in place, thumb brushing faintly against her skin as he tilted her head up toward him.
A soft gasp slipped from her lips.
That was all the warning she got.
The next second, Cassian lowered his head and kissed her fiercely.
He kissed as though he had been holding himself back for far too long. His hand remained firmly at the back of her neck, keeping her close while his lips moved insistently against hers. The familiar scent of him surrounded her completely—a fresh, earthy fragrance that reminded her of gardens after rain, of trees and damp soil after a storm.
